William Fraser and The Land of Do As You Please
by Jongluer
Summary: Strange things are happening as William Fraser enters the Eighth Grade at the Salem Institute For Magical Study.  William must learn to balance life, bullies, and secrets.  Disclaimer: I am not making any money from this/Harry Potter is not owned by me.
1. I Heard That You Were Home Again

Noon was quickly approaching as the sun was rising high into a clear summer sky. The rays of light filtered down through the big, bushy trees that lined Inverness Lane, creating a beautiful array of shadows that danced across the street as wind blew threw the trees, rustling a few leaves from their branches.

It might be hard for some to believe, but at the modestly sized suburban home of two college professors there lived a wizard. Neatly tucked between a fraternity house and a delightful cottage is where the wizard made his home, well at least for a few months out of the year because most of the time he was still in school. This wizard was in fact only thirteen years old, and his name was William Fraser.

As the sun continued to creep ever higher into the sky on that hot July day, William was just stepping out of the Fraser home and locking the door behind him. His sister was already at work for the day, and his parents as usual had become roped into teaching various summer courses and sponsoring undergraduate research projects, so they had been at the local college for hours now. Once the lock clicked into place, William rearranged his shorts and felt his wand bat safely against his leg before moving to grab his bicycle from where it was chained in the backyard.

After only two years at the Salem Institute for Magical Study, William had begun to feel very uncomfortable in the muggle world. Wearing shorts and a t-shirt instead of a nice set of robes felt strangely constrictive and the material made him somewhat itchy. He found the thwacking sound of sandals on packed concrete to be somewhat disconcerting as opposed to the soft click of shoes on brick that he had become used to at Salem. Worst of all, as his wand continued to bat against the inside of his shorts and his leg, William felt extremely uncomfortable.

He was unsure if it was the regular bullying he received from a pair of students at Salem, his time in the school's Dueling Club, or his experience with a dark wizard in the sixth grade, but not having his wand within easy reach made William feel unsafe. William knew that he wasn't able to use magic in a muggle community anyway, but it still felt strange being unable to see his wand ready to be yanked from its sheath at a moments notice. For a brief moment, William hooked his thumb over the waistline of his shorts and thumbed the well worn handle of his black oak wand for just a brief moment. Though he never anticipated any emergencies, William was happy to know that it was there and if he were ever truly in mortal danger, he was free to use his wand.

Finally, William unchained his bike and brought it out into the front yard. While last year William had spent a lot of his time at his old computer trying to figure out what he had missed in the muggle world, this year William found himself completely disinterested. Even though it had only been a few weeks, William was already starting to wonder what he had missed in the wizarding world, and he found that the question occupied much more of his time then what minor changes in muggle pop culture he had missed. That was why, as he had fairly regularly this summer, William now hopped onto his bike and began to lazily ride through town.

Passing through the wide, shady, suburban lanes, William's mind drifted to his friends. With the help of his gray owl Asimov, William had managed to exchange letters with his friends from school, and together they were able to share their summer boredom with each other. This summer, William found himself most concerned with his friend Nick, who over a year ago had been afflicted with lycanthropy. The past year had been very hard for him, and for a long time William was certain he'd lose his best friend but luckily they had been able to patch things up after William and his roommate Chris spent a night contending with the Beast in the caverns below Salem. William shuddered as he remembered the pained howls of his best friend while he chewed his own flesh because he was unable to reach beyond William and Chris's barrier of flames. Nick claimed that things were good, though like William, he had written of a distance from his muggle friends, finding it terribly hard to relate to them at all.

William shook his head as the suburban streets gave way to the tighter avenues and roads around the college campus in the center of town. Despite the hustle and bustle that normally accompanied the downtown region, in the summer time with the student population being gone it often seemed like no one was here. There were fewer cars parked on the street, the shops looked rather empty, and William only encountered one college student who passed him by on a strangely modified bicycle. As William watched the bike pass by him and realized it looked like someone had put one frame and fused it atop another, he was inevitably reminded of the whacky nature of the wizarding world.

William wound his way through the streets, and cut across the college campus a few times, its ivy-covered brick structures reminding him of Salem's centuries old campus. When his stomach grumbled, William sighed and began driving through the down town streets of the college town, looking for some place that wouldn't be a denizen for locals. Remembering his one time venture to the local high school and middle school hang out, William had decided at the beginning of this summer that he didn't want to get involved in any more embarrassing brawls with his elementary school bully Eric Grossman.

He knew from letters he had exchanged with his only real muggle friend, Megan O'Rourke, that Eric had only gotten more brash and unbearable over the past two years. That, William realized, and when he had gone to that old diner, he had felt extremely out of place. The social structure there was beginning to seem as alien as his magical school did some days, and what people had been talking about had gone in one ear and out the other. So, William knew that he just didn't want to see anyone from his old life and therefore whenever he used the muggle money he had gained from his birthday on food, he made sure to go to places that were closer to the college and more likely to have no local kids.

After several minutes of debate, William finally racked his bike next to a few thin looking bicycles that he was certain belonged to college students next to a cafe that he remembered his parents mentioning once or twice. Taking a deep breath, William stepped through the light screen door, and made his way to a table. Walking through the cafe, William could feel the eyes of the few college students locking on to him. It was not as if there was animosity between the college and the town, but there was a sort of unspoken invisible divider stronger than most magical barriers that William had encountered, and crossing it was considered strange by nearly everyone. William took a seat at a shaded back table, and set his leather bag down on to it with a light thud.

William carefully unlatched his bag and took out one of his textbooks from last year, and a new science fiction novel he had picked up at the start of the summer, unsure of which would be a more interesting read. Before he could decide though, the shady back corner got slightly darker as a large form blocked out the minimal light from the dimmed lamps and lightly shaded windows. William's head turned to take in the hulking young man who stood next to him, from his square jaw and dark hair to his t-shirt and the apron that covered his legs. The waiter's head cocked slowly as a look of recognition passed over his face, "Aren't you Professor Fraser's kid?"

Surprise was evident as William blinked very quickly, and looked up at the older man, "Yeah, I am."

"Oh, cool, I live next door in the Kappa Tau house," The frat brother then extended his hand to William, and William carefully took the hand trying to return as strong of a handshake as the college student provided but was afraid he might have failed. William's neighbor smiled, and then asked, "I figure you're here for lunch not coffee, right?"

William nodded before finding his voice, "Yes."

The waiter nodded with a broad smile, "You want anything to drink? I think we have a couple of organic juices or something besides water."  
>Catching himself before asking if there was any pumpkin juice, William just replied, "No, water's fine."<p>

"Alright," he said, setting a menu down next to William before wandering off to get the water.

Things ran smoothly after that, the college students who had been eaves dropping and watching William carefully became disinterested when they realized he was related to a professor. That mild connection to the university was all William needed to become an acceptable presence at the cafe. As William waited for his sandwich, and thumbed through his Transfiguration textbook, his eyes continued to drift toward a set of college students in the opposite corner by the window. William couldn't help but smile at their eclectic sense of fashion, and how the strangely colored scarves reminded him of Salem once again. His eyes also wandered over the plunging necklines of one of the girl's vibrantly colored dresses, and William then shook his head, feeling oddly strange but also surprisingly good about where his eyes had been wandering.

The food was good and filling, and tasted surprisingly fresh. The freshness was something that he had found hard to find in the muggle world. He wasn't sure if it was the House Elves that cooked the food at Salem or the very nature of magical cooking, but food in school always seemed to taste slightly better and he wasn't sure why. As he continued to flip through his old text, William's eyes were drawn to the door when it opened and his eyes widened when he recognized the person walking in.

She was a girl his age, with red hair that was, William realized, not as frizzy as it usually was despite the heat. The red haired girl was wearing a light sleeveless dress that was a blue and white checker pattern and a pair of sky blue flip flops that made a distinctive thwip-thwap sound as she walked up toward the counter at the back of the cafe. After a few moments of talking to the seemingly lone employee, she was provided with a bag and she exchanged a fistful of bills. As she turned around, William couldn't prevent their eyes from locking as he instantly recognized his best friend from elementary school: Megan O'Rourke.  
>Megan instantly realized who he was as well. Not that William had changed much, his thick mop of sandy colored hair had gotten somewhat longer, slowly turning to what his mother was calling "a mane", but he was still a shorter-than-average slight boy with blue eyes hidden behind a pair of wire frame glasses. Fighting back a squeal of delight at running into him, Megan rushed up, and said with a wide smile, "William? I figured you would be back for the summer!"<p>

"Hey, Megan," William said somewhat uncomfortably, quickly snapping his magical tome shut and shoving it into his bag, which he latched with a light click.

"How have you been?" Megan asked in a genuine tone, "Why didn't you email me when you got back?"

"I've been...alright," William said, surprised at the hesitation he found in talking to the girl he had once considered his best friend, "I guess I've just been busy."

"Oh, alright," Megan said somewhat uneasily. After a moment she spoke again, "Hey, I'm walking back toward the college, my Dad said there was an empty conference room my D&D group could use, and then he and I decided to have a late lunch." Megan then lifted up the bag in explanation, "But if you're not busy right now, maybe we could walk and talk?"

Megan's eyes rested on William with a look of such yearning for their old sense of friendship, that William smiled and replied, "Yeah, sure."

Long before Megan had arrived, William had received his check but the older waiter had made it quite clear that there was no real rush in settling the tab since during the summer there were obviously not many customers. William quickly fumbled about with the muggle bills, amazed at how strange they felt in his hands in comparison to the coins he had become used to, and then grabbed his bag and joined Megan outside. As they left, William could feel the eyes of the college students that were still lounging in the sunny corner by the window, and when the door closed behind him and Megan, William swore that he heard a few of the older girls giggle amongst themselves.  
>The sun was only slightly past its apex as William stepped out of the cafe behind Megan, despite the fact that it was nearly four o'clock. They walked in silence for a few minutes, no sounds beside the light shuffling of the plastic bag Megan carried, and the soft click of William's bicycle chain. After what seemed like an eternity, Megan finally asked, "So how was the rest of your school year?"<br>William frowned as he thought about everything that had happened in the previous semester at Salem, but then he thought of how it had ended and smiled, "I guess everything turned out alright."

"Oh," Megan said before smiling awkwardly, "Any more problems with those bullies?"

After pausing to think about it, William said, "Sometimes I barely remember I go to the same school with them, other times it can seem like it's never ending." William then turned to look at Megan who seemed to look a tad crestfallen by his explanation, William then asked, "Have things gotten any better with Eric Grossman?"

Megan bit her lower lip as they made their way down one of the shaded paths that cut through the heart of the college's campus. As they passed back into the sun's rays, she finally spoke, "It wouldn't be so bad if anyone ever could do anything about it, but the teachers all turn a blind eye, and none of us can really...stand up to him."

William frowned as Megan turned to him with admiration in her eyes, and she then added, "Like you did."

William shook his head. The first few times he had stood up to Eric had been accidental uses of magic, and the second time he actually had gotten beaten up for trying to defend himself. That second time, William had wanted to pull his wand out so badly but there was no way he was going to violate the Statute of Secrecy for a petty fight with his old elementary school bully. At that moment, realization also crossed his face as it hit him that the only reason the bullies at Salem were bearable was because magic leveled out the playing field between them. He sighed as he turned to Megan, and like he did that winter, all he wanted was to pour out all the truths of the wizarding world.

His thumb unconsciously ran across the handle of his black oak wand, and even from that one touch he could feel the hum of magic reverberating through the dragon heart string. It would be so easy to just pull out his wand, and call out a few spells, and let Megan know what was really going on in his life. As his thumb hooked into the waistband of his shorts, gripping the wand as if to pull it out, William quickly bit down on his own tongue slightly to concentrate. Letting his hand drift away, William explained, "I don't think I'd have stood up to Eric if I hadn't been part of the d...the boxing club." William couldn't believe that he had to catch himself from saying Dueling Club despite the fact he had been using the same lie for over a year.

Megan nodded glumly as they stopped in front of a squat brick building, "Oh, yeah, I guess." The pair of them stood awkwardly staring at each other for a moment before Megan moved forward and hugged him, "It was really good to see you William. Try not to be a stranger, ok?"

"Sure," William said as he watched Megan walk through the thick wooden doors into the math building where her father worked.

After a moment, William got back on his bicycle, and rode directly home. His parents were still out though his sister was home, not that it mattered as she was still tired from work. When William opened the door to his room, he was somewhat surprised to see another owl perched atop his dusty computer monitor. Asimov was seated on top of the bookshelf looking down at the other, smaller owl and gave a light hoot of indignation.

William walked up to the bird, and carefully took the letter from its beak. William's eyes lit up though, it wasn't a school owl, it was from his friend Sarah and it was the invitation to the professional Quidditch game that she had been talking about toward the end of last year. All of their friends had been talking about the best time for it, and finally, they had decided on a date that worked. William couldn't help as his mouth turned into a broad grin. A few hours back in the wizarding world was all he needed to prevent himself from going crazy while at home for the summer.  
>As William wrote a return letter and sent it back with the owl, the sad look on Megan O'Rourke's face drifted in to the fogs of memory, replaced by the thrill of seeing all of his friends from school again. More importantly though, the thoughts of his muggle hometown completely disappeared as he pulled out his wand and imagined being able to wear it some place where he could grab a hold of it easily. Yes, William thought, summer was finally looking up.<p> 


	2. Well, Not Really Feeling At Home

As the day of the Quidditch game finally arrived, William could barely contain his excitement. The night before, he had laid out a set of school robes so that they wouldn't appear wrinkled when he got to wear them for the first time in weeks. He spent the night tossing and turning, continually raising his head to stare at the digital clock on his bedside. The bright red numbers were changing with agonizing slowness as William's eyes were locked on to them. Finally, fatigue got the best of William and he passed out.  
>The sun was just slipping in through his bedroom when William awoke, the bell in the college's clock tower could barely be heard as it tolled the hour. William smiled as he just stared up into the ceiling, and as he thought about the magical world, he grabbed a hold of his wand and lazily traced it through the air above him. As always, William could feel the warm flow of magic resonating through him and his wand as he held it. William bit his lip and fought back the urge to mutter an incantation, setting the wand back down on his bedside table.<p>

William understood that he wasn't allowed to cast spells outside of school, but the urge was almost too much some days. As he slowly rose out of bed, William began to wonder if he'd be able to cast spells once he was out of middle school. William knew it was against the Salem Code of Conduct for underclassmen to cast spells outside of school, and there were also laws regarding supervision and minors performing magic but when he turned fourteen a lot of those restrictions would be lifted. For kids in the magical community, he had the feeling that the 'restrictions' for people between the ages of fourteen and eighteen were little more than jokes but for him, trapped in the muggle world they were felt quite strongly. William sighed as he walked to the bathroom to shower and get ready for the day. Even if he was living with a witch or wizard, living around muggles meant that magic needed to be extremely low-key if noticeable at all. William pushed these thoughts out of his mind as he cleaned himself and let the warm water rush over him.

Once clean, William slipped into the navy blue robes he had set out, and slipped his wand holster around his waist. William turned to look at himself in the mirror, as he carefully sheathed his wand, and smiled at what he saw. To a muggle, he might look like a slight nerdy child with too-long blond hair that was most likely getting ready for some fantasy or science fiction convention. But in his own eyes, William saw himself as a young wizard, prepared to let loose any number of jinxes and spells that he might need to.

Finally, William descended the stairs to the family kitchen. It was still early on Saturday morning, so William knew that his older sister would be sleeping in having worked late the previous night, but William was not surprised to see his father sitting at the table. His father turned when he walked in, and smiled, "Mornin', son."

"Good morning, Dad," William said as he prepared himself a bowl of cereal.  
>"Excited to see your friends today?" Mr. Fraser asked, while William put the gallon of milk back in the fridge and moved to the table.<p>

"Yes," the excitement nearly bursting out of William as he sat down.  
>Between his mustache and summer beard, William watched as his father's lips curled into a smile. "Good," his father offered, before continuing, "I'm glad you have friends at your school. Being away from home can be hard, and it's important to be able to share that with people."<p>

William nodded as he began to eat. His father sipped his mug of coffee while reading through a few papers his students had undoubtedly wrote, the pair of Fraser men enjoying the companionable silence. As William ate though, his father's words hung over his head. When he was at school it's not that he didn't miss his parents, it was just that there was always something going on, sometimes it was easy to forget that if he wasn't a wizard he would see them every day. When he was at home though, William felt the unbearable emptiness that came from being away from things that were important to him; his friends, Salem, magic, the Dueling Club. Those were the things that filled his every day life, and it felt terrible to think that he perhaps missed them more often than his family.

While he washed out his bowl before putting it in the dishwasher, William let out a sigh as he began to wonder if there was something wrong with him for thinking like that. William shook his head, there probably wasn't, but that didn't just make it alright though either.

William returned to the table where his father was sitting, and the older man set the paper he was reading down and asked, "So what exactly is this Quidditch thing, anyway? Your sister's mentioned it before, when she's talked about that boy."

William was somewhat surprised by the edge in his father's voice when he said 'that boy'. Franklin Perry was going to be a senior at Salem this year, and William had never truly been clear on what his relationship with his sister was. Still, William never thought that his family had a problem with the older wizard but perhaps, he had been wrong. "It's a sport," William answered while he tried to grasp for an analogy, "It's sort of like soccer?"  
>"Oh," His father answered, "And this Perry kid, he plays it right?"<p>

William nodded, "He's the Captain of the school team."

William's dad nodded, scratching the beard that he grew out every summer in thought. After a long period of silence, he asked, "You don't need a ride anywhere to get to this place do you?"

William shook his head, "No, like I told you earlier in the week, Sarah's grandfather is picking me up."  
>"Oh that's very nice of him," his father replied, as William watched him try to imagine various modes of wizarding travel there was a sound like a gunshot in the backyard, and William was up on his feet with a hand on his wand in an instant. His father was only slightly slower, but he was definitely watching the yard closely.<p>

Suddenly the sliding glass door that looked into the backyard from the kitchen was filled by a tall, lean, old wizard dressed in a set of black and gold robes. He smiled broadly at both William and his father before rapping lightly on the glass door. William released his grip on his wand as he walked over to the door, opening it with a smooth motion. "Good morning," The old wizard said as he stepped into the house.

The older gentleman quickly walked over toward William's father and extended his firm weathered hand, "Eliot Klein."  
>"John Fraser," William's dad replied, taking the older man's grip with practiced ease.<p>

After one smooth pump, the two men released their grasp of each others hands and stepped away from each other a pace. "Sorry if I spooked you both," Mr. Klein explained, "I forget how loud apparition can be on a quiet morning in a muggle neighborhood. Suppose I'll try to be a little bit quieter when we leave."

"Ah," Mr. Fraser asked, "You guys will be apparating to the game?"

Eliot Klein nodded his head, never a one of his shortly trimmed white hairs falling out of place, "It's the fastest and definitely cheapest way, especially since I know not all of Sarah's friends have access to floo, and portkeys just keep getting too expensive."  
>"Right," William's father said, nodding along as if he understood any of the words that Mr. Klein had said. "So are you going to be heading out now?" William's father asked, a little bit of his confusion showing in his voice.<p>

Mr. Klein nodded, "If that's alright with you. Best to get to games early, never quite know when they're going to end."

William had moved to stand near the adults, unsure of exactly what was going on, and then his father turned to him and placed a hand on William's shoulder, "Alright, William, have a good day with your friends, and listen to Mr. Klein here. Sorry your mother isn't up to see you off, but I'm sure she'd tell you to be careful, alright?"  
>"Alright, Dad," William said, feeling somewhat embarrassed by his father's warnings.<br>Finally John Fraser smiled, and said, "Good, have fun."

William broke apart from his Dad and followed Mr. Klein outside. As they stood in the spacious yard, Mr. Klein extended his elbow to William, before asking, "You ever ridden side-along when someone disapparates before, William?"

Slowly, William nodded, "Once, but I don't really remember it."

Mr. Klein frowned, clearly puzzled by the response before nodding, "Well just be careful then, it can be a little uncomfortable."

William nodded, before hearing another loud crack, and then it felt like his body was being shoved through a very tight place, like a door that was barely open or a packed mall at Christmas time, far too quickly. Finally William's feet landed on solid ground, and he was standing in a massive forest glade. As he fought back a spell of dizziness, he spotted Sarah Klein and Alexandria Blair standing practically next to them.

"I'll be right back," Eliot Klein announced.

Sarah answered, "Alright, Grandpa." By the time she had finished her sentence though, Eliot Klein had already disapparated away. Once he was gone, Sarah let out a squeal of delight and wrapped William up in a hug, "You're here!"

William laughed as Sarah broke away and took a step back, before saying, "I wouldn't miss it, Sarah. You have no idea how boring being stuck in the muggle world is."

"I can only imagine," said a light, smooth voice from William's left. William turned his head to see Alexandria Blair standing there in a fashionable set of light summery robes that were a smooth layering of bright blues and greens. She stepped forward, and smiled, inclining her head just slightly, "William, it's good to see you again."

William smiled, inclining his head in return, never sure if he was allowed to hug the pureblood girl or shake her hand, or any idea what the protocols she expected people to follow were, "You too, Alexandria." Her lips barely turned upwards in a smile as a response, and William then turned back to Sarah.

Sarah had grown slightly taller over the summer, and William felt slightly uncomfortable realizing that she was now clearly a few inches taller then him. Sarah was dressed in a set of deep blue robes with red and silver trim on them, but William noticed a pair of jeans and sneakers poking out of the hem. William asked her, "Where's Nick?"

Sarah frowned slightly, "He'll be coming later I think, Grandpa said he couldn't get him or something."  
>William's brow furrowed in thought as he tried to think what made his best friend's muggle neighborhood any different from his, when Alexandria supplied, "There are restrictions about how Werewolves may travel. Until Nick passes his apparition exam, he will have to be accompanied by a Marshal."<p>

"Oh," Sarah murmured in surprise.

William just sighed and shook his head. He had tried to comprehend the prejudice Nick faced as a werewolf, but had never been able to find any actual evidence for why the wizarding world treated werewolves the way they did. The worst part though, William had realized, was that Nick was still better off in America than in most other countries.

These brooding thoughts were interrupted however by another loud crack, and a loud whoop of excitement as Chris Angeloni landed with both feet firmly planted on the ground. The gathered young teens turned to look at their friend, and William's roommate, as he unhooked himself from Mr. Klein. Chris had grown this summer as well, though not necessarily just in height; Chris's broad shoulders had gotten a little wider, and his heavyset frame was beginning to fill in with muscle and fat. William realized that Chris had seriously begun to redouble his efforts this summer to join the Quodpot team. The sport was brutal, and required lots of players that were big and powerful, and Chris loved it.

"Hey guys," Chris bellowed in excitement. William knew that Chris wasn't enthused to actually watch a Quidditch game, he considered it a laughable game, but Chris was always passionate and enthused about life in general.

As Chris made the rounds giving big back slapping half-hugs to Sarah, William, and even the surprised Alexandria, Eliot Klein's voice cut through the merriment, "Sarah, where's your brother?"

Sarah let out a sigh, "I don't know, Grandpa, he was just here a second ago. Besides you know that this isn't his sort of thing."

"Now, Sarah," Eliot Klein explained, "This is your brother's world too now, and I thought we'd been over this..."

"No I mean you know how much he doesn't like sports," Sarah replied with a little indignation present in her voice, "Mom and Dad could barely get him to play tee-ball when he was a kid."

Chris, Alexandria, and William had all stepped away from the family altercation that was developing. As Sarah and her Grandfather continued to discuss Sarah's younger brother, and his possible whereabouts, Alexandria leaned over to William and whispered, "What's tee-ball?"

"It's like baseball but for little kids, it's really boring," Chris said in his usual tone regarding muggle sports: incapable of living up to broom sports.

Alexandria then whispered, "What's baseball?"

William sighed, realizing Chris had created more problems with that answer than he solved, before explaining in a hushed tone, "It's an easier version of a muggle sport for little kids. Baseball involves hitting a ball with a stick and running around a field. Normally someone throws the ball at the guy with the bat, but in tee-ball, it sits on a...a..." William trailed off as he tried to explain the contraption.  
>"Tee?" Alexandria supplied with a soft laugh.<p>

"Yeah," William said nodding with embarrassment for forgetting the word.  
>William's gaze then drifted back to the argument, as Eliot Klein now had his wand up to his throat as he said, "<em>Sonorous<em>." His next words came out like they were being spoken from a megaphone, "Adam El..."

Adam's middle name was cut off when a voice said, "I'm right here, Grandpa."  
>"Oh," Mr. Klein's voice still booming as he turned, "Where hav..." He then waved his wand while muttering the dispelling charm under his breath, "Where did you go?"<p>

William watched as the small boy with pale blond hair explained, "I went to the bathroom, Grandpa, I told Sarah that I was going." Sarah frowned when her grandfather looked at her and then merely shrugged.  
>Mr. Klein then just sighed deeply, before turning to the rest of the group, "Alright, let's head in everyone."<p>

William now finally turned for the first time and let out a low murmur of, "Whoa."  
>"I know, right?" Sarah said, having trailed behind the group to take in William's amazement.<br>Her grandfather and brother were leading the pack while Chris and Alexandria walked silently and a few paces apart behind them. The glade in the forest was starting to seem more like a meadow with woods built around it to William as he took in its size. A number of tents were pitched across the field, next to brooms, magic carpets, and a few most certainly magical cars, but they all encircled the most beautiful stadium William had ever seen. Like all Quidditch stadiums it was open to the elements, but this was barely noticeable due to the ring of towers tightly pressed against each other where the spectators gathered. The towers were draped in curtains of blue, red, and silver, which William was beginning to realize was the team's colors. Between a few of the stadium's towers William could make out stone walkways connecting everything, and finally his eyes drifted to the base of the stadium. The towers all sat on a wide ring of stone and wood, and all around it were floating billboards advertising various products and the game itself. William stood with a smile on his face, soaking in the wizarding world for a moment before Sarah tugged on his arm and they began making their way through what William began to realize was the equivalent to a muggle parking lot.

All around him, William found his head twisting and turning as they passed by the various tents. Children ran around them, shooting jets of water at each other with toy wands, or just playing games like tag. At the tents or around the carpets and brooms, wizards and witches were having cookouts, debating the upcoming game, and just generally having a good time. William noticed at least one wizard tent shaded a fully stocked bar with a classic dark wood frame, and brass trimmings, so he realized that wizards and witches probably enjoyed sports in the same way that many muggles did: under the influence.

They all reached the gates at roughly the same time, and as they were passing through them behind Sarah's grandfather, William heard a voice he recognized instantly call out, "Hey, guys, over here!"

William rounded quickly to see his best friend Nick standing besides a rather dour wizard in a blue uniform with a tight blue cap that had a shiny black leather brim over the wizard's eyes. As William approached his werewolf friend, his eyes were drawn to the symbol of a wolf howling at a crescent moon that was stitched into the frowning wizard's robe. Nick and William immediately gave each other a half-handshake/half-hug and the others, with the exception of Alexandria who kept her formal distance, followed suit.

Eliot Klein shook the Marshal's hands and they exchanged a number of words under their breath that William couldn't hear, but as they drifted away the Marshal merely hung back with his eyes trailing the knot of young teens as they moved through the crowd. William fought the urge to glare back, but instead followed Nick's lead and completely ignored the angry looking wizard.

As they moved up the long set of stairs to their seats, Nick asked, "So has been being stuck in the muggle world been as boring for you as it is for me, William?"  
>William nodded, "Yeah, I guess." Turning to his friend as they moved upward, "At least I can avoid the locals."<br>"Yeah, that's true," Nick said and then added in a lower tone, "It's so weird, everywhere I go, I see my old friends and we don't even know what to say to each other."

The rest of the group passed out of the stairs into the stadium, and William turned to Nick and asked him seriously, "Nick, do you ever think about telling them about it?"

"About what?" Nick asked, his face growing somewhat darker than normal.  
>"About the wizarding world, I mean, I just sometimes...I want to tell people, you know?" William explained.<p>

Nick shrugged his slight shoulders and then spoke in a grim tone, "They've already been obliviated once because of me."

William sighed and nodded as they stepped out into the sunlight, the serious conversation being quickly forgotten as they were greeted by the cloudless sky and the thunder of the crowd. William settled into his seat with Sarah on his right and Nick to his left. William looked at Nick for a moment in the bright light, and fought back a frown. Nick had grown slightly taller as well, but he was still thin, and his arms and hands were still scarred from transformations and the times he hadn't taken his Wolfsbane potion. William wasn't able to reflect deeply on this though as the teams were zooming into the stadium.  
>The crowd was on their feet in an instant as the two teams burst across the sky. The local team were in a different cut of robes but with the same color scheme that Sarah was wearing, whereas the opposing team was in bright orange robes with a sky blue trim. "Welcome, Ladies and Gentleman, to the match between the New England United, and the Pittsburgh QC," the announcer's voice seemed to not so much boom across the stadium as actually reverberate from it.<p>

The teams reined up hovering across from each other and the crowd remained standing as the national anthem was played, and once more the sound seemed to conduct through the stone of the stadium itself. As William lowered back to his seat along with everyone else, the two team captains shook hands and returned to their positions. The instant both team captains had turned back to face each other, the balls were released and the game began in earnest.

As soon as things began, William realized the vast skill difference between the games the students played at Salem and professional Quidditch. The New England pair of beaters were actually blasting a bludger back and forth between themselves before a target presented itself. At the same time, one of the Pittsburgh beaters had already knocked the New England seeker down, and the player was being attended to on the field. While all of this happened, the chasers were constantly zooming across the field; covering each other with expert skill, making hair pin turns, and passing to each other without even looking. With every shot made on the goal, the crowd would either be on the edge of their seats or actually standing and releasing howls of enthusiasm.

William found himself shouting along with the rest of the crowd even though he truly had no idea who these teams were. There was something about the roar of the stadium, and actually being surrounded by so many people that filled William with a desire to just see the New England team win. At some point, Sarah's grandfather had bought everyone a bottle of butterbeer and some kind of sandwich. William was surprised, for some reason he had been anticipating a hot dog like at a baseball game, but instead he was handed a strangely proportioned sandwich. Everything seemed to taper toward the end facing away from him, but when he bit into it William discovered that the bread actually formed a pocket rather than an open end so none of the contents spilled out.  
>The game was reaching a fever pitch by the time the sun was high above the stadium. The score was only 50 to 30 in Pittsburgh's favor despite the fact that the teams had been playing for several hours. "Essentially," The announcer said as he seemed to be speaking William's thoughts, "This is still anyone's game."<p>

There had been several close calls for the snitch after New England had been allowed to put in their reserve seeker, but nothing seemed to be happening right now. Unlike in other games William had seen, the seekers hadn't spent all their time watching from high above. They would get down into the action and zoom around, constantly searching for that flicker of gold. There was near constant feinting between the two seekers, and each time it was clearly intended to cause harm to the opposing seeker. William's eyes were drifting along on his own, wondering if he could spot the elusive golden ball but then shook his head. As he gave up hope though, Sarah nudged him in the side and used her chin to gesture to a spot above one of the nearby towers.

William's eyes focused on a light glittering in the sun, at first he thought it might have just been the heat or someone wearing a strange set of robes, but then he finally spotted the tiny ball flickering back and forth above the stands. Sarah, of course, was not going to be the only one to notice it, William could see several people trying to stealthily point it out to their friends.

When William turned his attention back to the snitch, he spotted both seekers making extremely hard turns over that particularly tower, hurtling after the ball at full speed. Both teams' pairs of beaters rushed to get a handle on bludgers and begin knocking them toward the seekers who were already rushing into the knot of chasers. One chaser in orange immediately fell like a brick from their broom letting out a call of pain as they clutched their torso. There was a shattering of wood and falling along with a number of splinters was another Pittsburgh chaser. When both were caught by cushioning charms, William turned his view back to the seekers who were now neck and neck. They were shoving into each other as often and hard as they could without drawing any attention from the referees.

At the last second the Pittsburgh seeker turned and slammed their fist into the New England seeker. The New England crowd let out a roar of rage, but the seeker was still staying aloft, and the snitch turned down quickly allowing the already descending New England seeker to race after it. That's when William watched as the New England seeker turned their head and spat blood and spit into the Pittsburgh seeker's face. There were several boo's from visiting fans, a few claps from the New England section, and a large chorus of disgusted groans. All of this was replaced instantly though by a massive roar as New England caught the snitch.

The game ended, and while at first William thought everything was over, he noticed the tension in Sarah. He turned but before he could ask for an explanation, a referee's voice boomed across the stadium, "Having discussed the actions of the two seekers in this game. It is the decision of the referee committee for both players to be suspended for one game, and to penalize the New England United 100 points. Game goes to New England with score standing at 80 points to 50 points." A huge sigh of relief came from the crowd, and then people began to file out of the stadium.

As they descended, William could barely comprehend the complicated penalty rules that Sarah was complaining about as she stated, "I'm just saying one hundred points _and_ a one game suspension? I mean really, that could have been a complete accident. I hope Pittsburgh knows they got lucky."

William shook his head, unsure exactly who Sarah was complaining to as they reached the base of the stadium. As they headed off toward the gates, the group was once more met by the dour faced Marshal. Nick broke off slightly from the group, and they all exchanged their goodbyes. As William and Nick shook hands, Nick said, "Hey, save me a seat on the train, alright, man?"

"Definitely," William nodded.

Once out in the fields, Chris sidled up to William and whispered as he looked at Sarah and Alexandria who were talking surprisingly animatedly with each other, "Hey man, don't tell Sarah but I thought that game was pretty cool."  
>"Alright," William chuckled at Chris' need to keep himself distanced from Quidditch, though he had no idea why Chris thought he'd pass anything along to Sarah, "It was a pretty awesome game."<p>

"Eh," Chris said somewhat louder this time, "If you thought that was a cool game, William, wait until I take you to a Quodpot game."

William laughed and shook his head, Sarah only looked back and shook her head at Chris.

Soon enough the merriment was over for the day, and William realized that he had to return back to the muggle world. With a soft pop, William was returned to the backyard of his parents' house in suburban Connecticut where everything was quiet in the twilight hours of late evening. William's parents were so happy to meet Mr. Klein though William felt the conversation was strangely awkward, rather than when his parents had spoken to Megan's father back in elementary school. It was as Mr. Klein said goodbye, and William headed up to his room to change out of his robes, that he realized: the adults didn't have anything to really talk about. His father hadn't even known what Quidditch was until that morning, despite the fact that William's sister was somehow involved with the Captain of Salem's Quidditch team, and the only thing William had ever seen his mother read about on shopping trips was the Dark Arts because of what had happened at the end of William's first year away from home. As William got out of his robes, he sighed, realizing just how big the rift between his parents' lives and his was getting.


	3. All Alone in Dragon's Plaza

William lazily turned his bicycle down Inverness Lane, enjoying the shade of the street's many trees as he coasted toward his family's house. In the trees above he heard the flapping of wings, and a low hoot. Even though he knew it was rare, William turned his head up expecting to see the large form of his gray owl Asimov but instead was surprised to see a pair of dark brown wings soar over his head.

The unknown owl gave another hoot as it swooped through the branches of the trees along Inverness Lane, circling William as he made his way home. The branches shuddered as the owl kept a close but surprisingly hidden eye on William. When William dismounted his bike, he expected the owl to greet him immediately but instead, the owl merely glided over to the roof of the Fraser home and rested by the chimney, partially blending in to the dark brick.

William gazed up toward the creature, surprised with the high-level of secrecy the owl was employing within the muggle neighborhood. As soon as he arrived on the other side of his family's fence though, the owl let out another loud call and descended in broad swoop, coming to rest on William's handlebars.

The owl locked its eyes with William and let out a low hoot, extending a leg that was wrapped in a letter bearing the Salem Institute's seal. William took it from the owl, but before he could even think to offer the owl a treat or water, the dark brown bird flapped its powerful wings and rose in a flutter of feathers. William turned his head upward to follow the owl's perfect ascent into the sky before it once more swooped into the tree branches and began gliding over the quiet residential streets that dotted the muggle college town.

As he walked into the family house, William broke the seal to the letter and immediately examined it. The first letter was the standard welcome back letter the school sent out every year, informing him that the return trip was just a short few weeks away and so on. William was surprised however to find several more letters in addition to the normal two.

The next letter began by explaining that 8th grade was an important year. The letter began to explain that when he became an upperclassmen and entered into the high school years, William like all students would be separated into different classes depending upon his capabilities. While his performance in other years apparently would factor into where he ended up, his performance in this year's courses would have the largest sway in determining his place. In addition, 8th grade was also the first year in which students got to take an elective.

Every eighth grade student was allowed the choice from one elective, the letter explained. It also suggested that students should weigh their choices carefully as some courses they might desire to take later on in high school might be easier to get into if they chose the correct path now. William frowned as he walked up the stairs to his room.

William didn't even know what courses would be available to him in high school, so how could he possibly know what would be the right choice now? William sighed, sitting down at his desk to look over the sheet of choices he had access to. As he looked them over, William couldn't help but think that they all sounded interesting. His choices ranged from the extremely practical "Household Charms," and "Understanding Magical Ecology," to very nebulous and academic sounding, "Arithmancy," and "History of Magical Theory." Deciding that Arithmancy was always something he could enter at a later date, William checked off the "History of Magical Theory," which promised to be, "A thorough examination of what makes Magic work, and how wizardkind has viewed it throughout our long history."

With his fate sealed, William rolled up the letter and roused Asimov in his cage. The owl hooted momentarily as if to announce that he was awake before taking the rolled up letter and then rising into the air upon his mighty wings. William opened the door and watched as his large gray owl took to the skies and soared off, quickly becoming a small gray blob against the blue sky.

Along with the new school letter and the prospect of a new class, came what William was truly most excited about: a trip to Dragon's Plaza. William found it hard to hold in his excitement at returning to the wizarding world, even if it was for something as banal as back-to-school shopping. Already, as his father navigated the tight Manhattan streets, William's mind was racing through the sights he was about to behold.

William also found himself marveling at the Manhattan streets themselves, filled with all manner of people. He began to wonder, as they turned down a street most people seemed to merely ignore, how many of them might be aware of the magical world. Perhaps, he mused, some of them were wizards or witches themselves that simply lived in muggle buildings or wizarding homes carefully tucked within muggle society. As they journeyed down the tight cobblestone street where one woman in a set of fuschia robes was walking her dog, William realized that he knew at least one person from New York.

Alexandria Blair, the small pureblood girl he went to school with never hesitated to introduce herself as "Alexandria Blair of the New York City Blairs." Never had he thought to ask her where in New York City it was that she lived, instead images of townhouses from a show his sister had watched would always enter his head. Still, for all he knew she lived in a place so alien and magical his imagination couldn't even comprehend it. William frowned as they entered the shade of the wizardly parking garage, and he realized despite his desire to learn more about the wizarding world last year, his efforts had fallen to the wayside in favor of schoolwork and patching his friendship with Nick.

William smiled and shrugged, realizing that it's not as if his efforts were wasted by not learning about the wizarding world. Merely that there was just so much more that he wanted, perhaps even needed, to know. The car suddenly came to a stop, and the whole of the Fraser family stepped out. The warm air of the mid-August day hit William with it's full force, but he suddenly found that his robes weren't as warm or stuffy as he feared they may be. Instead, as he walked through the shadowed parking garage they allowed a pleasant breeze to move within him.

He couldn't help but remember the strange looks his parents had given him when he had set out of the house that morning wearing his school robes. They had exchanged a pair of quick looks, and hushed whispers, that William hadn't been able to decipher as the family piled into the car for the annual trip. As he prepared to take his first few steps back into the real world, his father's strong hand caught him on the shoulder.

"Hold up there, William," his father's strong baritone announced.

William was surprised to find himself briefly struggling against his father's grasp for a moment before calming down and stopping to turn up to his father. "Yeah, Dad?" William asked as he looked up at his father. William's mother and sister were talking a few paces behind him.

"We decided that since you're a little bit older now, that your mother and I would let you wander around with your sister. You know that we expect you to spend money wisely, and not on silly things," Mr. Fraser's eyes narrowed on that last statement before breaking into a brief smile, as he added in a whisper, "Though if it's particularly interesting, I'd say go for it." Mr. Fraser then continued in his previous serious tone, "Just stay safe, alright, William?"

William smiled and replied, "Sure, Dad." His father patted him on the shoulder and handed him a small coin purse that jingled, William quickly slipped it into his pocket as he began to walk forward.

As his sister and mother broke apart, he heard his mother call out, "Remember, we're still meeting up for lunch." Elizabeth quickly caught up with William.

Elizabeth Fraser was dressed in casual muggle wear; jeans, flip flops, and a t-shirt. As they walked out on to Dragon's Plaza, a few heads turned to watch her as she passed. At first William frowned as he thought about a few of the narrow minded wizards he had met during his short time in the wizarding world. Then William frowned even more as he began to realize who's heads were turning, and the way they were looking at his sister. William also couldn't help but notice the way Elizabeth's smiled back at the people oggling her, it made William extremely uncomfortable.

William's discomfort quickly melted away though as he focused his attentions on the world around him. Once the light of day fully hit him, William could see people and house elves bustling through crowds, owls flying above, and notice the shimmering array of colors that people wore as they walked about the streets. Everything around him was instantly magical, and it only helped to make William excited for the new school year.

"I think I should get my books first," William announced to his sister as he began to march across the square.

She looked at him strangely, and then shrugged, "Whatever...you know I'm not going to actually walk around with you this whole time, right?"

William blinked, having not exactly considered why his sister was the one accompanying him this trip, though he realized that she had last year. Finally, he just looked up at her, and she rolled her eyes with a sigh.

"So I told Mom and Dad I'd make sure you didn't wizard yourself to death or whatever while we were shopping so that they could try to get some Christmas or Birthday shopping done for you," Elizabeth explained as they meandered through the crowd of Dragon's Plaza.

"Wizard myself to death?" William found himself mouthing the words entirely unsure of what they meant.

Elizabeth just stared back at him, "Yeah, cause you've never gotten yourself involved in anything dangerous and magical before."

William frowned as for a very brief moment his leg tensed up, like it always did when he thought of dark magic. He began to wonder if it tensed sometimes and he didn't notice it or if it was merely a reaction to the memory of his encounter with dark wizards at the end of his first year at Salem.

"Anyway," Elizabeth continued, "I do this, Mom and Dad can get some shopping done for you, and in the meantime I get to go hang out with Franklin."

"Oh," William said. Franklin Perry, Quidditch Captain at Salem, was a pureblood wizard that William was fairly certain was his sister's boyfriend, and William still wasn't sure how to feel about that.

"Yeah, I told him we were coming today," Elizabeth explained as her eyes began to scan the crowd, "I just hope he knows that you're enough of a nerd that you'd want to buy your books first." William rolled his eyes, he wanted to explain that Franklin was pretty studious as well, but his sister just cut him off in her stream of consciousness, "Why doesn't the wizarding world have like, cell phones or something? This would be way easier if we could text each other." William shrugged, and was about to open his mouth to explain when his sister just heaved a sigh, "Whatever. Look, just meet me at that sports bar or whatever before lunch, so we can meet up with Mom and Dad together, ok?"

William nodded, before saying, "Ok."

"Awesome, thanks," Elizabeth replied, and then turned and headed off into the crowd.

William had very suddenly found himself alone in Dragon's Plaza. All around him wizards and witches bustled about with their daily business while he stood still for a moment, just taking in the passing crowds. It was a wonderful thing to just soak up for the first time in several months, people in the wizarding world just had a certain way of dressing. It made William feel as if someone had mashed several centuries together to produce wizardly fashions.

Becoming aware of the time that passed as he watched people walk by tipping bowler hats to people with wide-brimmed coned wizard hats, William set off to collect his school supplies. For the most part, William just needed to pick up books and some more supplies for his potions class as well as various personal projects he was thinking of embarking on.

Over the past year, William had become an accomplished potioneer and felt that he was certainly on track to whatever the advanced courses were when he became an upperclassmen. There were still several potions in a book his mother had given him last Christmas that he had yet to try. Most of the potions he found either too difficult to brew, often leaving his cauldron a mess that required very tough cleaning spells, or required ingredients that he couldn't obtain easily or that Franklin Perry, who had assisted him a few times in obtaining ingredients, simply refused to help purchase. Still, there were a few that William intended to try out to the best of his ability.

First though, William went to obtain his books. As he had for the past two years, William eschewed pushing through the larger bookstores in Dragon's Plaza in favor of one packed between two boutiques. The majority of his list was easy to grab a hold of even in the tiny store, but he came here because of the other books he got to look at while he was there. The shop was dimly lit by a few candles that floated freely through the store, which had always struck William as something of a hazard, casting long and ever changing shadows over the various tomes. The room smelled of leather, ink, and paper, a combination that always made William feel quite at home, reminding him of days spent in the stacks of the library working on papers. As he collected the few texts required of his standard courses William's eyes paused upon several other books that he saw. Books like _Ancient Curses and How to Identify Them_, and _Suspect Spells: A Treatise on American Policy In The Last Century _sent William's mind afire with questions, and even wizarding fiction like _A Wand's Choice_ made William curious about all the things he simply didn't know. However, William held back from buying any of these things since he would rather spend the extra coins he had on potion ingredients or just save them for later in the year.

As he wandered the shelves though, William finally made an effort to round up the last three books on his list, all of which were for his elective "History of Magical Theory." He found two of them while rooting about the shelves. The bland sounding _Basic Precepts of Magic_ was lying in a short dusty pile amidst several other textbooks, while he found _The Ethics of Magic_ amongst a tightly packed section with simple titles that William discovered were quite deceptive when he cracked them open. However, William couldn't find the last book on his list: _A Magical Spectrum_.

William approached the older wizard that had been working in the shop over the past several years. William had never been sure what to make of him, since he had always imagined someone who would own a bookshop to look a certain way. This older wizard though, while heavy set like someone who lived a sedentary lifestyle, had a face that reminded William of a man who wasn't afraid of tough work. As William stepped forward, the older wizard was looking over a large tome. After a few moments, the guy looked William over and in his usual gruff tone asked, "Need something, kid? Or are you ready to check out?"

"I just need one last book," William said extending the list to the older wizard and pointing to the one he needed, "_A Magical Spectrum _by Newton Butler, and I can't seem to find it."

The wizard blinked his eyes a few times as he stared at the list, and then rose to his feet, "I think I might have a copy or two, don't get much call for this book." The older wizard began to lumber through the stacks and toward a backroom, William followed carefully.

"Really? Why is that?"

"It was considered a bit radical when it was written," the shopkeeper replied as he rummaged around in the backroom, opening boxes and chests as he went. "I mean, Butler's mainstream papers are pretty well known but _Spectrum_...wasn't published at the best of times in my opinion." The older wizard finally pulled out a thin volume from a small chest. It was covered in dust and it's pages were beginning to yellow. "I don't think I've sold a copy of it since it was published in '67."

William blinked when the man said that, "1967?" He gave the heavy wizard one more look, realizing that he must have been much older than his middle-aged look might have suggested.

"Yep, it was pretty popular back then," the bookseller replied as he handed it over to William. He then paused and shrugged, "Well if you call a book that more than a few people set on fire popular..."

William's eyes went wide as he stared up at the older wizard, "Set on fire?"

The older wizard once more alighted onto his stool, and began to tabulate William's books before giving him a look, "How old are you, kid?"

"Thirteen," William tried to say with some level of confidence.

"Guess they don't teach you much about contemporary wizarding history when you're that age do they?" The older wizard laughed, and then explained, "Butler's book came out a little too close to some bad times, kid, and a little too close to some troubles across the pond for people to feel entirely comfortable with them. I don't really think it's my place to give you a history lesson on that sort of stuff though, so just ask one of your teachers or something." He then looked over the stack before announcing it's price to William and smiling.

William paid, and left the store with a bag of books and far more questions than he'd like to leave a bookstore with. As William made his way along the plaza toward the ingredients shop he had been ordering from during the school year, he couldn't help but feel like someone was following him. It was a feeling that William was somewhat familiar with, having been a target of bullies his whole life due to his small stature. As he walked, William turned down a side street and tried to get a look over his shoulder of who might be following him.

Turning the corner as he walked were two boys William instantly recognized, though they were certainly larger than the last time he saw them. The shorter of the two, though still taller than William, was Henry Blackstock. His heavy frame was covered by a set of casual robes that despite looking new were already starting to look too tight and too short on their owner. In Henry's pudgy fingers, William could already see his stubby black wand. Walking next to him, seeming to grow ganglier by the minute was Theodore Stinson. William still had no idea what bonded the pair, as Theodore was a bigoted young wizard who had on more than a few occasions made it clear that he didn't like muggle-borns. As Theodore's thin gold colored wand was pulled from the folds of his robes though, William had his answer: bullying him.

William took a deep breath, and set his bag of books down and turning as he kept his hand rested on his wand holster. As William stared the pair of them down, he flicked off the small strap of leather that kept his wand normally bound in place letting his fingers rest on the well-worn wood. With experience as duelist, William was far from afraid of the two on their own but together it wouldn't necessarily be a fair fight but then again it never was.

The pair of bullies continued to advance while the larger one nudged the taller one, and Henry then said, "Told you it was him."

Theodore snickered as he walked forward, twirling his wand between his fingers.

William scowled at the pair, and then remembering his encounter with Theodore last year in Dragon's Plaza, announced to them, "What are you guys really going to do? We all know that we're not allowed to cast spells outside of school yet."

Theodore shrugged, his wand still twirling through his long fingers as he walked forward, Henry's grip on the stubby wand tightened slightly. They both paused a few yards from William, before Theodore spoke with an icy edge to his voice, "Maybe you won't cast any spells." Theodore raised his wand.

Theodore took a deep breath, and William had to fight instinct to yank his wand out and throw out a shield charm. The specifics of when underclassmen were allowed to use their wands outside of school grounds were vague at best, and William just couldn't be sure if he would get expelled if he did anything, especially if he did anything first. William's hand was tense over his wand holster as he stared back at the bullies.

"_Digitus Wibbli_," Theodore suddenly said and a sharp blue light burst out from the tip of his wand.

Before William could even register that he was doing it, he was rolling to the side while shouting the word, "_Protego!_" The blue light collided into his nearly opaque wall of silver magic. William landed shoulder first on the hard paving stones of the street, gritting his teeth he leveled his wand at Henry as he rolled and let out a quick shout of, "_Tagann_!" There was a burst of emerald light that grasped Henry with a start and as William rolled, Henry tumbled away as well.

As William rose on to his feet, he heard a string of shouts from Theodore, and saw a whole barrage of spells coming his way. William threw up another shield charm and then started backing away as the salvo of jinxes collided with his shield and caused a shockwave of magical energy to fly about.

All around them William could hear people opening up windows to look out on the sudden disturbance. Beyond the two bullies, William could spy adults and teenagers turning to look at what was going on down the side street as well. William gripped his wand and rushed for his bag of books. Henry began to right himself and quickly called out a curse, and Theodore swung his wand toward William's bag, and cried, "_Diffindo_!"

William deflected Henry's curse easily and was just barely able to jerk his hand away as Theodore's spell cut through the air where his hand had just been. William stared at the two bullies and the crowd that was gathering, a few adults were already moving to intervene but William didn't want to be expelled just because he was defending himself. No, William thought, a few annoying bullies weren't going to get him kicked out of school. William raised his wand with a look of determination and shouted, "_Lasair!_"

Flames burst forth from his wand in a beautiful array of colors. The gathering onlookers began to blink and back away from the explosive and dazzling ball of fire. William grabbed his shopping bag and bolted further down the street, before ducking into an alley that connected to another street, and began to run back towards Dragon's Plaza.

By the time he made it to the potion shop, he was a little winded, and sweaty, but no one seemed to be looking for him or chasing after him. The only idea he had that anyone had even been aware of the fight was when he met his parents for lunch and they had asked his sister and him if they had heard about those "boys that were fighting earlier." The entire way back to Connecticut, William was smiling as he realized that he might very well have gotten away with the most reckless thing he had ever done in his entire life.


	4. A Long Ride

The last few weeks at home continued to eat at William in a way that was hard to explain. As always, his school books gave him something new to look over but more importantly they reminded him of what it was he couldn't do. Whenever he cracked open one of his textbooks William found his eyes turning toward his wand and wondering if just maybe he could cast a spell.

His fight in Dragon's Plaza clearly indicated that the school wasn't constantly watching over him, or the government, or whoever it was that was in charge of young witches and wizards when they were at home. If they didn't come storming down on him after a full-fledged magical brawl in public then why would they mind if he practiced a few cleaning charms. Every time his fingers touched the wood of his wand, the warmth of magic flowed through his arm and he felt a sense of rightness. All William wanted to do was cast spells and it was the only thing he was certain he shouldn't be doing.

Instead he spent the last few days before the return trip to school trying to wrap his head around the entirely theoretical aspects of magic that he had apparently signed the next year of his life away to studying. _Precepts of Magic_ was interesting but dry, every page seemingly dedicated to boring the reader into accepting what it had to say. _Ethics_ was an extremely dense read, and for the first time in his life, William found himself rereading sentences for the fourth or fifth time as he tried to comprehend what was going on. That's why William started to find _Spectrum of Magic_ to be his favorite book.

Newton Butler wrote accessibly and plainly, though William wasn't entirely sure what the old wizard was trying to get at. William felt like the entire first chapter of the book was spent responding to something he hadn't read, and arguing against countless people William was supposed to be familiar with. As one passage read, "_Some would have us believe that spells can be broken down into categories. That there are distinct classifications and subjects that magic can be broken down into. As if each and every gesture and incantation had been set in stone since the very beginning of time, and with it every manner in which a spell can be used. I am certain that such people will continue to propose these notions even after this book is published. Perhaps for centuries after it is published, but I write this under the burden of future generations and their need to develop what their forefathers refused to._" The whole paragraph made William think that Butler was rebutting people, but who and why were complete mysteries. Still, the words of the now dead wizard kept him occupied at night as he tried to understand the apparently radical words.

Finally though, at a pace that would make a tortoise seem like they were strapped to a rocket, the day to return to Salem had arrived.

William awoke to the blue haze of a false dawn, and quickly dressed in a pair of robes. He couldn't help but stare at his reflection in the mirror. His mother had made him get a hair cut a few days before hand, and he wasn't sure how to feel about his newly shortened hair. He had begun to like the length of his hair, and found himself involuntarily frowning at the shorter length of his sandy mop. Reasoning that it wouldn't be cut for some time at the very least, William stopped frowning and finished his last minute packing.

_Spectrum_ was the last book to be put away, and William found himself smiling as he slid the thin book into his chest, his finger moving swiftly down its leathery spine.

William shut the traveling trunk tight with a thud, and then lifted it up with a loud heave. Very carefully and slowly, William brought it out of his room and downstairs. With each step through his childhood home, William felt his arms strain and his knees wobble ever-so-slightly. If only, he began to think to himself as he made his way down the stairs, he could use magic, then this would go much more smoothly. Soon, William comforted himself, soon there would be a lot less restrictions on what he could do while at home.

With the trunk set down by the front door, William turned to see his father standing in the doorway to the kitchen. His father had a strange look on his face as he stared at his robed son setting a trunk down on the floor. "I could have helped you with that, William," Mr. Fraser said softly as he watched William carefully shake out his arms.

William shrugged, "I know, I just wanted to get everything ready."

His father gave a slow nod, before speaking, "Your mother went out and got some bagels." Mr. Fraser's hand casually went over his shoulder to the room behind him gesturing to the bagels that presumably sat on the kitchen table.

William smiled as he crossed the distance that separated him from his dad, and quickly gave him a broad hug. William wasn't sure why in the soft early morning light that he had hugged his father, but it had just felt right, especially as his dad returned the hug with a large amount of warmth.

The pair entered the kitchen where William's mother was standing next to the coffee machine, her back turned to them. When they entered, William couldn't help but hear his mother suck in a deep breath before she turned around with a smile, "Coffee's almost ready. Did you want some juice, William?"

William nodded, and soon enough the three of them were quickly bantering over a simple breakfast of bagels and cream cheese. Elizabeth joined them shortly after they got started, and William suddenly found himself curious as to how he could ever not miss being at home. Even now with Salem so close, William couldn't help but realize what it was that he left behind every year. Every year, his family was left incomplete while he was away throwing himself into subjects that he couldn't even begin to explain to any of them.

Then, they all stood and prepared to head out for Manhattan as the sun was peaking its head over the suburban roofs, and perfectly maintained trees that made up their neighborhood. As William rose he felt his wand thump against his thigh.

That simple motion of magically-attuned wood hitting his body made William realize why everything was the way it was. He was a wizard, and they weren't. Slowly, but surely, this would stop being his world entirely. William frowned as he shoved his trunk into the car. One day, sooner than he thought, the rift between himself and his family's lives would become insurmountable.

As the trees that lined the sleepy early morning highway began to give way to buildings and sound barriers, William began to dismiss his earlier, more depressing thoughts. He couldn't worry about his future as a wizard, and what that would mean in regards to his family right now. It was hard to focus on something so monumental and grim when in just a few hours, he would be back at the Salem Institute for Magical Study.

A sprawling campus nestled in New England, the exact location never quite clear, where students learned not the boring subjects that filled the minds of muggles, but the nuances of wand gestures and incantation pronunciation. Classes that allowed their students to seemingly disregard the laws of physics. Classes that turned their students from people to wizards.

Even while his head began to fill with all that he would learn and be able to do by the end of the year, William's mind quickly turned to his friends. In elementary school, William's sole companion had been the equally nerdy and picked-upon Megan O'Rourke. At Salem though, while his circle of friends wasn't particularly wide, it was far more than one.

The problems of Salem flashed through William's mind in the blink of an eye, and a twitch of a muscle in his leg. Dark wizards, and bullies were banished from his mind with the simple remembrance of last year's Quidditch finals.

By the time that William was making his final goodbyes with his family on the train platform, he was eager to break away from them and join his friends. With the last tight embrace between himself and his mother, William was off like a shot onto the train.

Those first few moments on the train were often the most difficult. Looking around compartments for any glimpse of his friends, and hoping he didn't stumble into older students searching for privacy, or worse, the pair of bullies that had been haunting him from the very beginning of his time at Salem.

As William twisted his way down train cars, he began to listen to conversations of the people he passed. Snippets of conversation floated around him, and for the most part it was the standard ramblings between old friends that he was expecting. As he passed through some of the cars though, William began to notice one event that continued to crop up.

"...heard one of them burned a building down..." 

"Eighth graders can't burn down buildings..."

"...Yeah, three Eighth Graders dueled right in the center of Dragon's Plaza, I was there, man..."

"They're probably all going to be expelled I bet..." 

"Surprised the government didn't break their wands and obliviate them..."

"...I heard that all three of them were obliviated on the spot for everyone to see..."

A lump had formed in William's throat by the time he finally spotted Chris in a compartment. Chris was dressed in a set of dark blue school robes as he leaned outside of the compartment window looking up and down the platform in earnest. Every so often William noticed him wave but mostly he was looking for someone.

William took a deep breath and knocked on the door and said, "Hey, Chris."

Chris immediately yanked himself out of the window and turned, "William! I've been looking for you! I still haven't spotted Nick, and I was starting to get worried."

William laughed, "Worried about what?"

Chris' eyes turned wide, "You haven't heard?"

William frowned, unsure of exactly what Chris was asking him.

"Everyone's talking about this crazy duel between a bunch of eighth graders. Someone said that one of them was using curses, and other really Dark stuff..." Chris began to ramble, "A guy who had a friend that was in Dragon's Plaza when it happened said that one of them went wild and just started performing Wandless Magic. And there's even a rumor going around that the Marshals were called in to deal with it..."

William continued to blink as Chris regurgitated every story that had come out of the Salem rumor mill in just the past hour. William finally sat down and looked at his roommate, before asking firmly, "Chris, why would that make you worried?"

Chris paused taking a deep breath before announcing, "Because they'd be expelled! I just..." Chris then sat down in a huff, "I figured eighth graders, and dueling. Well, it had to be you or Nick, and with all the other problems Nick has it wouldn't take much for them to..." Chris frowned as he thought about it.

William frowned as well, and then shook his head, "I doubt Nick was involved."

"Yeah, you're right," Chris replied, "Besides, he's always got those guys following him around anyway." Christ then laughed, and added, "And you wouldn't just go brawling in the streets, either."

"Yep," William said with as much sincerity as he could muster.

Luckily before Chris could possibly notice, Nick was standing at the doorway to their compartment. As he always had since he was bitten, Nick seemed a little run-down. His robes were already looking a little too short on his tall frame, but they hung loosely on him as if he never quite had the right amount of fat or muscle on him that a normal person would have. While Nick entered, William's eyes were drawn to where the sleeve of his robe hitched up revealing a number of slowly fading bite scars. At first glance, Nick looked like a very troubled young teen who needed to speak with just about anyone about what was going on in his head. But when he caught his eyes, William couldn't help but notice that Nick looked happy. In fact, as they locked eyes on each other, Nick's face broke into a broad grin, and he said, "Hey guys. Sorry it took me so long, but you know how it is."

Chris and William both nodded and quickly agreed, none of the trio wanting to face the awkwardness of reality; that they didn't know what it was like to be a werewolf. Nick quickly changed the topic however, asking, "Did you guys hear those rumors flying around about the guys who dueled in Dragon's Plaza?"

"Yeah," Chris responded, "We were just talking about it."

"I doubt they were really duelists," Nick began as he took his seat, beginning to offer his theory on what would separate a member of the dueling club from the common students.

William barely participated in the conversation as the ancient train finally began to pull out of the station. With the rumors flying around, William couldn't help but wonder what would become of him when he got back to school. Surely, someone would know what he had done, and there had to be some kind of punishment. William swallowed the heavy lump that formed in his throat as he remembered how much of Salem's code of conduct he had broken when dueling in the streets.

Luckily though, the conversation quickly changed from the mysterious duelists and to what had actually occurred over the summer. While all of them had seen each other briefly, and exchanged letters, there was something comforting in being able to sit and talk to each other about what had happened.

Except that most of their stories were relating tales of the boredom they felt at home now. William was certainly not the only one who was beginning to feel the distance between his former life and the one he lived now. Even Chris, who had tread the line about keeping magic a secret by flying brooms when he shouldn't, began to admit that things were becoming different.

"It's becoming really hard just to get some broom time, you know?" Chris continued to expound as he sat back in his seat, his broad frame stretched as he laid his arms over the chairs on either side of him. "All I really want is to make the quodpot team, and both my mom and dad know that but..." Chris let out a frustrated sigh.

"Where can you go?" Nick offered for him.

"Exactly," Chris replied with a pointed finger, shaking it up and down in agreement. "How am I supposed to make the team, when I always have to be worried about boy scouts, or day hikers, or whatever!"

William heaved a long sigh of agreement, and both of his friends turned toward him. "I don't even know how other wizards do it," He found himself saying, "I mean, to always be surrounded by muggles? How do we do any magic if they're not allowed to know?"

"I don't know," Nick replied, "I guess we'll find out by the end of this year though, right?"

"That's true," Chris responded, his face breaking into a full smile.

William grinned as he then asked the pair, "Are you guys sure that most of the casting restrictions are lifted between 8th and 9th grade?"

"That's what everybody says," Nick answered, "I mean, I know we're not allowed to work any big spells or the like but just..." He smiled thinking about it, "Just being able to light the tip of my wand would be enough some days."

"Yeah," both William and Chris assented in one breath.

The train was quickly plugging away into the countryside, when the door to their compartment opened, and Sarah paused only to look outside in the hallway before shutting the door quickly behind her. She leaned her frame against the thin train compartment door and breathed a sigh of relief, then she smiled at all of them, "I finally ditched my brother."

All three wizards laughed as Sarah stepped further into the compartment, and sat herself between William and Nick, leaving Chris all on his own opposite them. Chris then asked her, "Did it really take you that long?"

"You have no idea," Sarah replied as she shook her head, "He just had so many questions. You'd think he would want to go meet kids his own age, but nope..."

"How'd you get rid of him?" William finally asked, thinking about the simple methods his sister had used to ditch him over the years.

"I just said I had to go to the bathroom, and then ducked out of there as fast as I could," Sarah explained before groaning in realization, "I'm going to have to go back there for my stuff later but I just needed time away from him." With one last exasperated sigh, she added, "He's so annoying!"

"I can't imagine going to school with a little brother or sister," Nick said plainly.

"It's going to be terrible," Sarah began, "These past two years have been great. Now, now he's here for the rest of my time at Salem."

"Well," William began, "At least you won't have to see him much. His dorm will be on the other side of campus, and you'll never take a class together."

"That is the only comfort," Sarah said as she leaned back against her chair, clearly relishing the respite away from her younger brother.

The boys continued to discuss their summers with Sarah only chiming in from time to time as she sat half-asleep between Nick and William. As the train finally began to slow down, approaching Salem as it always did in the mid-afternoon, Sarah slowly came back to a full attention. As she rose, and stretched before making her way to the door, she asked them, "Have any of you guys seen Alexandria?"

They all responded with a simple negative, and Sarah nodded before flippantly saying, "She's probably off hob-knobbing with whoever of the whatever wherevers. I'll see you guys at Dinner?"

"Sure," William answered for the group, while Sarah nodded, leaving while she stifled a yawn.

The train finally pulled into the small station that sat down the hill from the Salem campus proper. Very quickly William and his friends had their wands out, and were magically guiding their luggage out of the train. On the train platform itself, students of all ages were quickly gathering up their belongings and moving across the expansive lawn toward Salem's well-maintained brick walls.

The sixth graders were left in the wake of the older students, as they ascended the hill. Before William could believe it, he and his friends were making their way across the well-worn brick paths onto campus. The main building with the long ivy that crawled up its brick walls, with the shutters and doors whose paint never peeled seemed to greet William from afar.

Walking across the old paths, seeing the lawns spread out, and hearing the sound of students as they made their way back to their own dorms, filled William with a sense of rightness. The magic here just seemed to flow smoothly through him, focused by his will and wand. Everything about Salem seemed to just come into a sharper focus, and be somehow more wonderful than it was otherwise. William swore he could feel the whole of the campus at that moment, from the far wall where he once dueled with an evil wizard for all of a minute, to the deep caverns where he confronted the beast that continued to dwell within his best friend, and through all of the academic buildings and dorms in between.

He quickly turned toward Corey Hall, the squat one-story building that had been his home for the past two years on campus. His future home for the next five years. As he walked through the halls, William could hear the sounds of people unpacking. Already, rumors were giving way to arguments about where to put things or when to venture toward the dining hall. Wizard wirelesses were bursting to life in the lounges and rooms that he passed, delivering news and music from around the country.

William and Chris opened the door to Corey 131, the dorm room that they had shared. Immediately their trunks were open and books were being put away, posters hung, and pictures affixed to the walls. As always, William found his schedule on top of the writing desk and he immediately pinned it to the wall above his desk.

It didn't take very long before the whole room was starting to look and feel like home again. Chris' side of the room decorated in an ever-increasing array of over-the-top quodpot paraphernalia, though his pads and personal broomstick had taken a more prominent role in his decoration this year than in years before. William's side was plain by comparison, with just a few books and personal items adorning the walls and shelves, along with the cage of his owl Asimov. Still, even with their difference in tastes and focus, it felt good to William to just lay down on the surprisingly comfortable mattress and realize that he was back at Salem. As it was with every year, William found himself overjoyed with the realization that he hadn't just gone crazy, that he really was a wizard.

"Do you think we should head out now? Try to beat the rush at the dining hall?" Chris asked from where he was seated at his desk.

"Yeah, probably," William replied, checking his pocket watch for the time. The hours had passed far quicker than he remembered them doing so before, but it didn't matter. William swung off of his mattress, "We should go get everyone else too."

"Probably," Chris said as he also rose from his seat.

As they walked out, William was surprised to see that Chris had apparently been working on minor transfigurations. A number of pencils were arrayed on his desk, but they had been transformed into other items; pens, mostly, but a pair of scissors, a butter knife, a simple bracelet. William shrugged, not giving it another thought as he and Chris went to collect the rest of their friends for dinner.


End file.
